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2011–12 pre-season
There were nine pre-season warmup matches arranged for 2011, three nominally at home, although one of those was played at Twerton Park, and six away. There was originally a game scheduled against Kidderminster Harriers on 26 July, but a game against Reading was arranged on the same day. Although Rovers offered to send a reserve side to the game Kiddy pulled out of the fixture as they wanted to face a full strength team. 1 Game played at Twerton Park, Bath Mangotsfield United Rovers kicked off their pre-season campaign at Mangotsfield United's Cossham Street ground. They fielded an almost completely changed team in each half, with only Charlie Clough and Lance Cronin playing the full 90 minutes, and although the game was mainly to work on fitness, the 5–1 result will have no doubt pleased new manager Paul Buckle. Rovers initially took the lead just before the half hour mark when a long range shot from Lee Brown was deflected past the keeper, but Mangotsfield equalised ten minutes later when Tom Knighton put the ball past Cronin with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area. Rovers asserted their dominance after this however, and goals from Scott McGleish late in the first half and Eliot Richards in the second, capped off with a brace from Ben Swallow wrapped things up for The Gas. Buckle included two trialists in the side for the first half, Cian Hughton, who was released by Lincoln City, played at the back and former Rovers loanee Reggie Lambe was included in midfield after having been released by Ipswich Town. There were also some familiar faces in the Mangos lineup. Defender Tom Parrinello was making his debut for Mangotsfield after moving from Gloucester City, and former Gas men Geraint Bater, Matt Groves and trialist Tom Godsell also played in the game. ;Rovers lineups: *Match report on Bristol Evening Post website Bath City Rovers won their second pre-season game thanks to a 2–0 win over Bath City at The Pirates' former home, Twerton Park. Goals from new signing Joe Anyinsah and Wayne Brown sealed the victory over the Conference National side. ;Rovers starting lineup Rovers made eight substitutions during the game; Stuart Campbell, Mustapha Carayol, Michael Boateng (trialist), Wayne Brown, Eliot Richards and Darren Jefferies all came on at half time, replacing Smith, Anyinsah, Stanley, Gill, McGleish and Zebroski. Charlie Reece and Charlie Clough replaced Ben Swallow and Adam Virgo after 58 minutes, and Byron Anthony made way for a second trialist, Andrew Yiadom, in the 75th minute. Only Scott Bevan and Lee Brown played the full 90 minutes. *Match report on Bristol Evening Post website Salisbury City Rovers continued their run of pre-season wins with a comfortable victory over Conference South side Salisbury City. ;Rovers lineups: Unused substitute: Ollie Clarke Inverness Caledonian Thistle Rovers twice took the lead against their Scottish top-flight opposition, but were twice pegged back to lose their 100% pre-season win record. The 2–2 draw meant however that they remained unbeaten going into a five-day break before facing Burnley. ;Rovers lineups: Unused substitutes: Darren Jefferies, Joe Anyinsah *Match report from the Bristol Evening Post Burnley Rovers maintained their unbeaten run of pre-season games with a comfortable 2–0 win over Championship side Burnley. Goals from Matt Harrold and Eliot Richards sealed victory in a one-sided game which The Pirates dominated. ;Rovers starting lineup Unused substitutes: Lance Cronin, Kayne McLaggon *Match report from the Bristol Evening Post Weston-super-Mare Manager Paul Buckle rested a number of his first choice squad for this game, giving a run out to one or two fringe players, and also experimenting with having several players out of their more familiar positions. The game was played in poor conditions with rain, often torrential, falling from start to finish. The Gas secured their fifth win of the pre-season in spite of the weather, thanks to a deflected free kick from Chris Lines and a bizarre second goal when a clearance by Weston's 'keeper Lloyd Irish cannoned off of Kayne McLaggon and into the net. ;Rovers starting lineup *Match report in the Bristol Evening Post Reading A strong Reading side provided the opposition for Rovers' final home pre-season game. Goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen made his return to The Mem and played the full 90 minutes for the Royals. Although Rovers played well in the first half, their Championship-level opposition proved too strong in the second period and The Gas ended up losing 2–1. ;Rovers starting lineup Unused substitute: Lance Cronin A group of Rovers fans on Twitter decided to take pictures before the game and share them using the hashtag #gaspanorama. Those photos are available on the link below. *Photos taken at this match Gloucester City The Rovers first team ended their pre-season campaign with a narrow victory over Conference North side Gloucester City. Gloucester manager and former Rovers player David Mehew was not present at the game, but his side still provided tough opposition for The Pirates, and they twice equalised after Rovers had taken the lead. Scott McGleish's second half goal proved to be the decider however, and the Gas went into the season proper with another win under their belts. ;Rovers starting lineup Unused substitute: Lance Cronin Bitton A Bristol Rovers XI travelled to Bitton to celebrate the opening of the Western League side's new clubhouse. It was a youthful starting lineup for the Rovers team, which featured just five professional players, along with one trialist and five scholars, and although Bitton dominated the first half, Rovers staged something of a comeback in the second. 15-year-old Rovers midfielder Shaquille Hunter was singled out for special praise, both in the match report on the Rovers website and by Chris Lines on his Twitter feed, and the side also featured former Saint-Étienne, Juventus and Portsmouth man Vincent Péricard who had joined on a trial after having been released by Swindon Town in the summer. ;Rovers starting lineup Unused substitutes: Matt Macey, Josh Southway, Alefe Santos, Lamar Powell, Pat Keery & Cory King Category:Seasons Category:2011 Category:Mangotsfield United Category:Bath City Category:Salisbury City Category:Inverness Caledonian Thistle Category:Burnley Category:Weston-super-Mare Category:Reading Category:Gloucester City Category:Bitton